A new group invitational exhibition will open at Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs on Saturday, March 1 with an opening reception from 3 to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
This exhibition features figurative drawings, paintings, and prints by four New York State artists: Unique Fair, the late Marjorie Scheier (represented by family), Melissa Sarat, and Patrice Maloney. Facing Forward will showcase the perspectives and interpretations of these four talented visual artists who utilize the human form to convey themes of family, identity, nature, memory, and more.
Unique Fair, artist and activist from Rochester, NY aims to empower and engage through color and value-driven work focused on themes of oppression and liberation. Fair earned an undergraduate degree in Illustration from RIT and is an instructor of undergraduate drawing, painting, and printmaking at RIT, Memorial Arts Gallery, and Flower City Arts Center. Fair’s work displays a rich contrast between value-rich foreground subjects and pattern-rich backgrounds-furthering the viewer’s inquiries related to role, gender, hierarchy, social systems, and beyond.
Artist Marjorie Scheier lived in Philadelphia and later New Jersey-studying at both the Student’s Art League in New York City, and Philadelphia College of Art with majors in fashion illustration and later art education. She often photographed people around her-from the summer shores of Long Beach Island, New Jersey to upstate New York. Scheier cultivated an appreciation for the simple joys of daily life through use of rich seasonal light and active compositions. Her work is represented by her family of the greater Rochester, NY area.
Facing Forward runs through Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 3p.m. and Thursday–Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Artwork in the exhibition can also be previewed and purchased at MainStreetArtsCS.org.
Melissa Sarat resides in central New York State and applies to her paintings a deep respect for and inquiry into gardening, nature, ancestry, and interspecies connections. She attended Louisiana State University, earning an MFA in 1975. Her work exudes and supports our connection to the natural world with layers of meaning and narrative stemming forth. She borrows inspiration from several chapters of her life-including making ties to mystical symbolism through featuring earth’s creatures and plants within her layered compositions. An avid painter, Sarat is represented by NOHO M55 gallery of New York, NY and has shown extensively in shows across the county.
Patrice Maloney is an artist residing in Rochester. Her current series showcases her passion for the printmaking process and the art of formal portraiture, both originally inspired by a fascination with the Flemish artists of the Northern Renaissance. Maloney is a dedicated practitioner of the skillful utilization of color-crafting textured compositions with juxtaposed angles and varied, mesmerizing surface qualities. A strong supporter of the ongoing pursuit of knowledge, she has participated in numerous painting workshops led by many different artists.
‘Facing Forward’ is an exciting exhibition showcasing the various styles and perspectives of these four artists. With their own personal and distinctive voices, they together convey a myriad of themes and emotions, imprinting upon their respective grounds within the realm of portraiture. Each artist displays expertise in their chosen media and style-including how they’e thoughtfully and carefully sourced individual experiences and personal inspirations to together formulate a specific body of work. Emotively, this exhibition will be an unabashed celebration of recent figurative work.
Also at this time, Main Street Arts will host a Stairwell Gallery exhibition comprised of stunning landscape paintings by Victoria Brzustowicz. An award-winning painter and illustrator from Rochester, NY, she developed a love for the practice of outdoor painting and co-founded the Greater Rochester Plein Air Painters. Her work exudes the comfort and familiarity of early summer morning landscapes as seen through the passenger-side window of a car steadily climbing up finger lakes county roads and across rural emergent fields.
Lastly, Main Street Arts is thrilled to announce the commencement of a second floor gallery space dedicated solely to younger, emerging artists. The ‘Emerging Artist Gallery’ at Main Street Arts will be partnering with college and high school senior-level artists across New York state. We hope to spotlight the talent of our younger, experienced artists whose ambition, dedication, and vision exude a love for visual art. This new exhibition will change four timers per year, and will initially feature the artwork of Olivia Karasiewicz, a painter and undergraduate senior from SUNY-Fredonia. In the future, Main Street Arts will have openings available for other college aged students, and regional high school seniors who work in two-dimensions and who wish to gain exhibition preparation and gallery exhibition experience.
Main Street Arts is located at 20 W. Main Street in Clifton Springs, NY 14432 and is open Tuesday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., and Thursday-Saturday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Artwork from the exhibitions can be previewed and purchased at MainStreetArtsCS.org. Additionally, children’s art classes and teen & adult workshops which directly align with exhibitions are offered and listed on their website. Artist talks and other special events are listed there as well.
